Amarcord is a haunting, funny, beautiful work that makes most other recent movies, with the exception of Ingmar Bergman's Scenes from a Marriage, look as drab as winter fields without snow….

[The film] is his memory of a year in the life of Rimini, or a town much like it, and for Fellini memory has a lot in common with dream. It needn't be what literally happened but what he wanted to believe, or perhaps what time has forced him to believe. (p. 264)

Amarcord has the circus's pace, drive, good spirits, fascination with costume and masquerade (sometimes grotesque), and abundance of events. The characters tumble onto the screen one after another, as if there weren't going to be enough time to get through all the acts….

One of Fellini's greatest gifts is his ability to communicate a sense of wonder, which has the effect of making us all...